My husband, an architect, talks a lot about the importance of a dignified entryway. People want to feel like they are entering a special place when they come to a building - a beautiful, thoughtful entrance sets the tone for the life inside that building. My husband deplores buildings where entries are hard to find or grimly functional, especially homes where all entrances are through an attached garage.
We didn't have to do much to our entry, just paint it (and it could use another coat again). I try to sweep out front and wash the foyer floor at least once a month.
But the foyer needs more than the paint we slapped on. My husband has plans for tiled floor and walls. (We own a 3-unit house and live in first unit, so our foyer is a common foyer.)
Inside the foyer to our front door, there is a clear path for stowing shoes on trays under the bench. More about the floor cloth
here. And I will add, in this post, that you must walk differently on a floor cloth than a rug. A floor cloth rumples more easily, even with all those towels I put in it. But it's so easy to wash and shake out and we love how it looks.
We do have an outbox for small objects in the radio cabinet at the front door, but sometimes the larger things (bags of newspaper for Rebecca's garden) are just waiting for takeoff for a few days. I need to show you the radio cabinet sometime - my husband refinished it specially for this spot and function.
Seems like things need to be
next to the door to make it
out the door at our house. How do you handle the in and out of objects in your house?
I made this post for
Like Mother, Like Daughter's linky party
"A Reasonably Clean Welcome!"
15 comments:
We have coat pegs up on the wall...so often there are bags of things hanging up there that are 'going out'.
Ah the beach, you lucky girl! I'm going to do an entryway post too. I am so with Mr Thrift on entryways. I have a keen interest in historical archicuture and grew up in very old houses (they knew how to do entries right) but now live in a small ranch house and from my front door you can see the living room, dining area and kitchen with one glance. Plus it is not very easy to access. Well--I'm not going to air my grievances too much--but it has taken me a long time to get past these issues.
We have a little basket on our kitchen counter for outgoing things. I sometimes hang items on the back doorknob (unsightly but effective)--but only if they are big. Sometimes I will pack a bag of stuff to go and put it near my purse in our bedroom (which is right off the living room--have I mentioned I do not love the design of this house?!?!?!).
My entry got a thorough scrubbing last week and I'll post on it soon!
I just love your front door.
Also--what types of trays do you use for shoes?
The coming-in and going-out of things is something we need to work on, too. Our entry hall (former laundry room) is now under construction and totally not functional as anything. So, everything gets dumped on the kitchen counter. We'd like to do boot boxes and coat hooks and baskets for hats, etc. once we get organized.
Oh, jeez! Apologize to David for me. I forgot to pick up the newspapers after church yesterday.
How do I HANDLE those things? I let them pile up in a hot spot on my kitchen counter until I get religion every six weeks or so and go on a cleaning spree.
What a beautiful window above your door. I like the look of your floor cloth, too. We have hooks hanging by the door for jackets and keys with a rug below them for shoes. (We take our shoes off when we come inside.) A small basket on the table holds things like cell phones & wallets. I'm looking forward to having a closet just inside the front door of our new house for coats, things going out, etc.
Polly,
the boot/shoe trays are plastic ones I picked up at Linens N Things a few years back. They have rims so the dirt and wet stays on them, but also little ridges so the undersides of the shoes can dry.
I am impressed you even got around to painting. I love that window above your door.
Very nice, Margo -- I think that some sort of shelf for things on their way out and in -- library books, things people left behind, reusable grocery bags -- is very helpful. Or hooks, as kyleann and eva said.
Everything looks neat and tidy chez vous!
Polly -- I hope you link up with us when you do your post -- we'd love to have you!
I like your attention to these little things.
Our entryway is ever so boring right now...EXCEPT for the wonderful punched tin star that hangs way high in the entryway window...it's so happy and cheerful at night!
I so agree about the entryway. Funny, since our exterior entryway is a shabby sight! Perhaps you've inspired me...
Hi Anna!
To be really inspired (as I was), go see Leila's thoughts on the original post http://ourmothersdaughters.blogspot.com/2011/08/how-do-others-see-your-home.html
She writes long posts, but is so very wise and practical.
I put things that need to be returned/given to people in my car trunk. That way when I run into them or unexpectedly drive by their house, instead of saying "OH I have that thing for you sitting on my desk at home," I can say "Hold on, let me run out to my car."
A lovely post... We bought a painting specifically for our foyer. The exterior part of the entrance seems to be harder for me to dignify than the exterior. Ours is plain Jane.
Yes, do please show us the radio cabinet.
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